ORLANDO SPEED WORLD COURSE

Drivers initiate on the back straight, running the track in clockwise fashion around the first bank. Judges have asked the drivers to ride the wall of the bank as much as possible, treating it like a giant outside clipping zone. There’s an inside clipping point towards the end of the bank, then drivers transition off the bank onto the bumpy infield portion of the track. Drivers will transition from left to right across the infield, hitting an inside clip at the end of the infield before riding the outside line on the flat bottom of the second turn. If any drivers push a tire up onto the bank of the second turn, there will be a deduction, while sliding the front tires up onto the bank will result in an “Incomplete Run” which is the new term for a zero-point run.

QUALIFYING

Overall, only 27 drivers were able to put up a score in Qualifying, which meant that the top five drivers would earn a bye in the first round. Dai Yoshihara came out tires blazing and laid down a 95-point first Qualifying run which would hold up as the top score on the table. Fredric Aasbo and Ryan Tuerck both earned scores of 93, with Aasbo earning the higher qualifying position by virtue of a higher secondary score of 90 points to Tuerck’s 89-point secondary score. Long Beach winner James Deane earned 92 points on his run, while Michael Essa rounded out the top five Qualifying order with a score of 91.

Robbie Nishida, who qualified in Long Beach, moved into his new Nissan GTR for this round but was unable to put up a qualifying score. Additionally, Faruk Kugay had some teething issues getting his BMW car prepped for the event and didn’t make the trip, while Georgy Chivchyan also was absent from this round. In their place, Taylor Hull made his Formula D Pro debut by qualifying 25th, and Kyle Mohan put down his first qualifying score of the season to earn the 27th qualifier position. Continue reading 2017 Formula DRIFT Orlando Top 32 Play-by-Play by Driving Line

The path towards the 2017 Formula Drift Pro Championship continued on the banks at Orlando Speed World (OSW) in Orlando, FL after a very interesting opening round in Long Beach. This is the 3rd year the series has run in Orlando where competition keeps getting more tense for the best runs against the wall; it keeps getting hotter too, even after this year was moved up to April. The differences between Long Beach and Orlando are stark, flat streets versus the high banked oval of OSW. An extremely rough and even bouncy transition section in the middle of the track continues to shake drivers up, lifting nearly all 4 tires off the ground in some situations as drivers try to gauge how much throttle to give and not thrash into the lead driver, all while trying to keep close proximity into the final turn.

The OSW layout continues to be somewhat basic even, but before you know it, OSW’s high banked wall will suck you in or the hard bank-to-track transition will wreck havoc on a driver’s car. There were many questions to be answered like how would James Deane fair on the very different Oval track? Would Alex Heilbrunn continue to show the leaps and bounds of growth that we’ve seen? OSW would prove to also be quite interesting and continue to shake up the Championship standings, still very early in the 2017 season.

Pro qualifying gave us a look at who would later have the most success during competition with Dai Yoshihara (95), Fredric Aasbo (93), Ryan Tuerck (93), James Deane (92), and Michael Essa (91) rounding out the Top 5 qualifiers. Qualifying scores do not always tell the complete story of the day however with Vaughn Gittin Jr. qualifying all the way back in 22nd and later nearly taking it all the way, deep in Top 16 competition. But were Gittin Jr. and other teams just playing it safe all along? After qualifying, Round 2 had a whopping 5 bye-runs, which Formula Drift chose to not even make the drivers complete their normal 1-run dance. Definitely the first of a few fan-favored moves to ensure cars continue to move on to Top 16 without the risk of mechanical issues or a silly error during a non-tandem lap around OSW.

I also don’t think that anyone could disagree with the result either. Florida was the first real unknown for the Worthouse Drift Team, with neither driver having experience at the Orlando Speed World oval, or the heat on the peninsula at this time of the year.

For all the euphoria that was felt after FD Long Beach, the atmosphere was very different as the sun set this evening.

Both cars were parked up after the Top 16, with James having been beaten fair and square by Jhonnattan Castro – who put in one of the all-time great chase runs, it has to be said – and Piotr being unable to return to the start line after making contact with the wall on his lead run against Dean Kearney.

Strong disappointment and frustration were definitely the initial reactions, but they were soon replaced by calm and considered reflection.

“This season is shaping up to be very entertaining and competitive one,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “The standings were shaken up after the last round with only 55 points separating the Top 7 drivers.”

Round 2: Unchartered Territory at the Orlando Speed World was an action packed event from start to finish. An estimated 1 million viewers tuned into the Livestream and were treated to a highly competitive event.

The semi-finals became a battle of champions with four past champions competing for the top spot. 2011 Formula DRIFT champion and number one qualifier, Dai Yoshihara in the Falken Tire / Turn 14 Distribution Subaru BRZ faced off against 2013 champion, Michael Essa, in the Achilles Tire / Essa Autosport BMW M3. In a very tight battle, Essa edged Yoshihara to advance to the finals. 2010 champion, Vaughn Gittin, in the Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR went up against 2015 champion, Fredric Aasbo. A very close and technical chase run by Aasbo sealed the win to advance into the finals. In the finals, Aasbo found his groove and managed to take advantage of a small mistake by Essa to secure the victory and move into the top of the 2017 Pro Championship standings.

“What an incredible win! We only built this car over the off season and to get this first win after only the second time out is amazing.” said Fredric Aasbo, winner of Round 2: Unchartered Territory. “Today it all came together especially in that Top 4 battle with Vaughn Gittin Jr. and that was my highlight of the day showing that I can chase really close and getting this first win in the Rockstar Energy Drink / Nexen Tire Toyota Corolla iM is huge.”

The action continues to Round 3: Road to the Championship at Road Atlanta on May 12-13. For more information visit, www.formulad.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram @formulad, Facebook www.facebook.com/formuladrift, Twitter @FormulaDrift, and Snapchat – formula_drift. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.